1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to retaining devices and, more particularly, to a novel retainer which, when used, prevents inadvertent movement between a nut and its mounting or support, such as a nipple installed in a fuel line system or electrical connection.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to employ couplings which, when connected together, serve as conduits for a fluid or electrical current. In such systems as fuel lines, couplings are extremely important and assurance must be provided against inadvertent backing-off of coupling nuts so that fluid leakage will not occur. In high performance vehicles and race cars, excessive vibration often causes nuts in a threaded coupling to loosen and back-off from their sealed coupled position. In order to prevent such an occurrence, attempts have been made to drill special holes in the nut through which safety wire can be threaded and subsequently anchored to fixed supporting members. Such a situation requires that a hole be drilled through a suitable thickness in the nut which presents a problem since the drilling of a special hole is time-consuming and reduces the structural integrity of the coupling itself.
Furthermore, in situations where fixed supports are not available to which the safety wire can be anchored, even the drilling of a hole through the coupling nut itself would not be sufficient for eliminating loosening of the nut due to excessive vibration. Such vibration has a tendency to loosen the threaded engagement of the nut with the nipple in spite of the safety wire securement.
An attempt to resolve the above difficulties is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,348,349; 5,094,491 and 4,27,660. However, these prior disclosures are not as convenient to operate by a user as the present invention and do not provide as positive a retention as the present inventive concept.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a retaining means for holding a shaped nut in position with respect to a coupling situation, such as when a nipple is used the nut will not back-off or loosen although the installation is subjected to severe vibrations. Such a means should not require the alteration or modification of the existing coupling members and, preferably, should not interfere with the proper seating of the coupling members so as to maintain an effective seal to prevent leakage of fluids.